Unis told the age of the on-campus classroom is dead

A new report says university campus classrooms are dead and institutions cannot afford to stick to the status quo

Aug 16, 2021, updated May 22, 2025
The University of Queensland. (Photo: ABC)
The University of Queensland. (Photo: ABC)

Professional services firm EY has urged universities to abandon the status quo to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

They have also been told to turn to the corporate sector, rather than the federal government, for research funding.

Universities no longer have a monopoly on accreditation and have to work more closely with industries and employers to keep up.

The report urges institutions to use Spotify-like platforms that let students stream personalised learning materials at their own pace.

ā€œThe classroom is dead,ā€ EY’s report on Monday said.

ā€œImagine that accessing learning in 2030 is like listening to music via Spotify in 2021.ā€

The industry was struggling to make up for the lack of international students as Australia’s borders remained shut.

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Flinders University Vice-Chancellor Colin Stirling said the sector had to prevail.

ā€œThe (universities) ask and answer un-google-able questions. And we need to be better at passing on this critical skill to our students,ā€ he said.

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Education Minister Alan Tudge did not think the situation for universities was as dire.

He told a higher education summit the majority of universities entered the 2021 calendar year in a relatively strong financial position.

The sector’s net assets had increased by two per cent on the previous year to $63.1 billion. Cash and investments rose by about 10 per cent to $24.9 billion.

Efforts were continuing to get international students to Australia, despite swathes of the country in lockdown.

ā€œWhen student numbers do come back, we need to do it differently, to get greater diversity, to have better alignment with skills shortages,ā€ Tudge told Monday’s summit.

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